The main batch of the TCR Advanced SL ISP special is arriving at the end of June. There are still some XS and S-sized models available. Not many, but a few. The M-sized bike sold this week. We’ve got an M-sized TCR Advanced SL ISP with the same components, including SRAM Red, and Mavic K10 wheels available right now. The only difference is that it’s in black and blue, as pictured above.

While I was thinking about getting the other model for myself, customers always come first, so I sold it. In my opinion, this one looks even better. This bike isn’t complete. In order to tailor it, you’ll need to choose a stem, handlebar, and saddle. We’ve got a full selection of Giant gear available, including the top of the line Giant Contact SLR garb.

Giant is having a special that was just announced to dealers. It’s for a complete TCR Advanced SL ISP bike.

The bike comes with the TCR Advanced SL ISP frame, SRAM Red, and Mavic K10 wheels. All for a very low price. In comparison, the TCR Advanced SL 1 ISP with SRAM Red and Fulcrum Racing 0 wheels costs $5,400 USD. This is also a limited version of only 60 or so bikes, so you better place your order in quickly, as I’m sure that they will sell out in a week or two. This price doesn’t include a stem, handlebar, or saddle. These items need to be added on top of the base price to get a complete bike.

UPDATE: We have some sizes available, from XS, S to M. Nothing else is available anymore. They are all sold out but I’m getting an update next week. There was also a mix-up in the price that was originally advertised. Please email me to find out more. Thanks.

TCR Advanced SL red

I’m going to get myself one as well. It’s too good of a deal to pass up, especially since I have been wanting a TCR Advanced SL for a while. The paint job is also unique. I’ll post some photos of it later today.

Send us an email at asteriskcycles at gmail dot com for further details.

TD’s bike arrived a little more than a week ago and he finally sent me a few photos of the assembled and finished bike. As you know, we don’t fully assemble the bikes, we check that everything is accounted for and pre-assemble them. All that you have to do when you receive a bike from us is to put the handlebar onto the stem and mount the front wheel.

I’ve mentioned a few times on my blog how cheaper it is to buy bikes in Taiwan. I’ve seen differences of up to 35% between the final sale price here in Taipei and the MSRP in the US.

It actually never crossed my mind, but after having received about a dozen inquiries about the bikes, I decided to investigate things further with a few local shops and dealers. That being said, after having negotiated a deal with a few different LBSs, I’ve come to an agreement.

[Update: I’ve got some great deals on the 2010 Pinarello Dogma with either SRAM Red, Campagnolo Super Record, or Shimano Dura-Ace. Check out this post for details.]

[Update: I’ve received news about the top-of-the-line Giant TCR Advanced SL LTD ISP. It has got a lot of differences from the US TCR Advanced SL 0. Check out this post for details.]

I plan on making available a small number of bikes for people interested in buying them, in the US, Canada or Europe. I’ll concentrate on the Giant TCR Advanced, TCR Advanced SL, Defy Advanced, FCR Advanced, and Trinity Advanced product lines for Giant road bikes. For Giant mountain bikes, it’ll be Faith, Glory, Reign (and Reign X), Trance X (including Trance X Advanced SL 0 carbon fiber), Anthem X (including Anthem X Advanced SL 0 carbon fiber), and XTC Advanced product lines. If there are enough bikes being sold, I might receive better prices, but initially, it looks like the ones I have will be between 10-35% less than US prices.

'10 TCR Advanced SL 1 ISP with SRAM Red

Although this is mainly about Giant, there are also a number of Pinarellos, Wiliers, Orbeas, DeRosas, Kuotas, Colnagos, and TIME bikes and frames available. Rebates apply to those as well, though they aren’t as steep as the ones on Giant bikes. For example, a ’09 Pinarello Prince w Super Record 11, Bora 1 wheels retailed about $9,000. US MSRP for this bike is about $10,200. To keep things simple, I’ll concentrate on 2010 models, but there might be some ’09 models available, if that’s what you’re looking for. All bikes are new. Packaging and shipping will be handled by pros. Different shipping options will be available, though I’ll suggest using Taiwan Post. It’s safe, reliable, and cheaper than FedEx and DHL.

So take a look at the Giant US website and tell me exactly what bike you want. You’ll need to give me your bike size in cm. I’d prefer to keep things simple and to deal with the bikes the way they come in the box, but you can always ask me for some upgrades. You should also be aware that there might be some spec changes between the US models and the Taiwanese models. Some models exist in the US and don’t exist here, and vice versa.

I can also get components: Dura Ace, Dura-Ace Di2, SRAM Red, Record & Super Record. Wheels are also available.

Be advised that shipping a bike from Taiwan to the US costs between $100-150 and a frameset will cost less than $100 to ship. Accepted payment is through PayPal or direct bank wire.

Visit Asterisk*Cycles and send an email to djrange at gmail dot com to find out more. I’ve created a page for this, but you can leave any comment you want here.

There aren’t many changes in the 2010 lineup for road bikes. Naturally, the colors are changing a bit. The 2010 TCR Advanced SL line stays pretty much the same. The Dura Ace and SRAM Red SLs should drop $1,000 in price, to $7,000 and $6,300 respectively. In Taiwan, I’d expect these bikes to retail for $4,500 and $4,000, maybe even less. This means that ’09 models are going to drop prices by at least another $500-$700¹. If a complete ’09 TCR Advanced SL 0 retails for about $3,000², then it’s a serious contender as my main bike once again, knocking out the second-hand Kuota KOM. Colors are pretty much the same for those two models. That being said, these Giant prices are really impressive. Giant were already competitive, but even more so now. The SL 0 is a fine looking beast, with red handlebar tape, red/white decals and everything else black. As a testament, take a gander at the photo below. It’s the SL that I’m talking about.

'09 Giant TCR Advanced SL 0

The ’09 SL2 is now the ’10 SL3 with Ultegra and should sell for $4,000. The TCR Advanced line now has a Dura Ace 7900 bike. The biggest news is that the frame prices drop to about 2,950 and 2,750 for the ISP and the non-ISP TCR Advanced SL frames.

Giant TCR Advanced non-ISP

Giant will release a bunch of new carbon components, from stems to bars for the higher-end models. The new Giant stem looks a bit like a Zipp, but it’s more squared off. The handlebar resembles an FSA K-Force ergo bend. It includes adjustments in reach and drop for each bar. Giant doesn’t plan on offering a BB30 frame, as their BB86 keeps testing stiffer in their lab.

[¹] This was true for the ’08 bikes. ’07 will drop by at least a similar amount, if you can find one in your size that is.
[²] With SRAM Red and Zipp 404s. The ’09 prize for an SL0 is $4,500 in Taiwan.